Folding window-blind



UNITED srATEs PATENT oEEioE.

SYLVANUS S. CLARK, OF MANCHESTER, HAMESHIRE.

FOLDING `WIN D OW-BLIN D.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 16,966, dated April '7, 1857.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SYLVANUSSMITH CLARK, of Manchester, in the county ofHillsboro `and vState of New Hampshire, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Folding Window Blinds and Shutters; and I dohereby declare that t-he following is a full, clear, h and eXactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, making a part of this specification, in which- Figures l, 2,and 3, exhibit transverse vertical sections of a window to which isapplied a blind or shutter in which all the improvements whichconstitute the invention are embraced; the several sections showing theblind or shutterin different conditions. Fig.` 4is an inside view of thejamb-framing of the window, and o-f the blind or shutter. Fig. 5, is anoutside view, corresponding with Fig. 4. Fig. 6, is a horizontalsection` of the window and blind or shutter. Figs. 7, 8, 9, l() and 11,are detail views, which will be` found to` be hereinafter eX- plained.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalgures.

This invention` consists in certain improvements in the construction,arrangement, mode of connection, and method of operating folding blindsand shutters for the exteriors of windows, and is applicable to blindsor shutters of wood or metal.

To enable others to fully understand and construct my invention, I willproceed to describe it.

A B B C, is the wooden jamb-framing of the window; A being the sill; B,B, the jambe; and C, the cap.

D D El, is the frame of the blind or shutter, which may be of wood oriron, secured to the exterior of the jamb-framing; said frame consistingof-two uprights D, D, and a cap piece Ei, the said uprights being sunkin the sill A, and secured by screws or any other suitable means to thejambs B, B, and the cap piece having the jambs mortised into it, andbeing secured by bolts or other means to the cap C, of the jamb-framing.The uprights D, D, have cavities a, a, in their inner faces, as shown inFigs. l, 2, and 6, and also in Fig. 5, in the latter of which figuresthey are represented partly broken away to expose the said cavities,which cavities are for the purpose of containing two movable uprightpieces E, E, which contain notches c, c, in their front sides, toreceive "down, by the pieces E, E, being held against the front sides ofthe cavities a, c; but the `blind or shutter is intended to fold and`draw up to the top of the window, provision is made for liberating thetenons from the notches c, o, by making the pieces E, E, of less depthfrom back to front than the cavities c, a, to allow them to move inwardor backward in the said cavities far enough to leave room for the tenonsto move forward out of their bearings c, c, and move upward between thefront of the pieces E, E, and the front sides of the cavities a, a. Fig.l represents the pieces E, E, drawn back, and the slats F, F, drawn upto the top of thewindow. Springs cl, CZ, are placed between the piecesE, E, and the back or inner sides of the cavities 0;, a, as showninFigs. 2, 3, and 6, to force the said pieces forward or outward toconfine the tenons of the slats when the blind or shutter is let down;and rods e, e, one` for each piece E, are provided, to draw the piecesE, E, back, to allow the slats to move up; said rods passing through thejambs B, B, so as to be operated by hand from the interior of the houseor other building without opening the window.

7, in Figs. l, 2, 3, and 6, is the windowsash.

A small upright sliding bolt is applied, inside the jamb, to each rod c,to drop into one of two notches 6*, in the said rod, to lock the pieceE, either in its inward position shown in Fig. l, or its outwardposition shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 6. The movable upright pieces E E, areconfined to the cavities a, c, by screws, u, u., near the top andbottom;` the said screws passing through horizontal slots fu, af, in thesaid pieces E, E, and screwing into the stationary uprights D, D.Rollers c, c, are fitted into the bottoms ofthe upright pieces E, E, torun on the sill A, to reduce the friction.

The slats F, F, are all connected together at their inner edges by twochains G, G, which are made with two links to each slat; the said linksbeing so provided with stops as to` fold onlyin an inward direction oraway from the slats, as shown in Fig. l, so

as not to get between the slats and prevent them being drawn up close toeach other. The construction' of the links is illustrated in Figs. 7 and8, the former ofpwhich eX- hibits a transverse section, and the latteran inside view, on a larger scale than the figures already referred to,of portions of three slats and the chain connecting them. The links g,g1, are connected by hinged jointsg'and the links g1, are eachconstructed with a stop piece la., at its upper en d,

. which, when the chain is extended, comes in contact with the link g,above it, and thus prevents the joint i, that stands midway between theconnections y', y', of the chains and slats, from folding toward theslats, butyet allows it to fold freely from the slats, in the mannerillustrated in the lower part of Fig. 7. The top or uppermost slat F ofthe blind or shutter is suspended by two slotted plates I, I, shown inFigs. 2 and 3, from two stationary pins w, w, that are secured in thecap-piece E. The form of the plates I, I, is illustrated best in Fig. 9,which is a side view of one of them detached. The obj ect of makingthese plates with large slots 20, to work on the pins w, w, and theparticular form of the said slots will be hereinafter explained in amore suitable place.

The slats are drawn up to the condition shown in Fig. 1, by means of twocords or chains p, p, connected with the tenons of the lowest or bottomslat, and passing up through the cavities a, a, in the uprights D, D, ofthe frame of the blind or shutter, over guide rollers 7c, k, in thecap-piece E, from thence through the cap C, and under guide rollers Z,Z, in the back part thereof, to rollers m, m, on a horizontal shaft I-I,that is arranged in bearings la, fn., attached to the interior of thecap C, within the building. The two cords or chains p, p, are drawn up,to draw up or fold the blind or shutter, by turning the shaft H, andthus winding up said cords or chains on the rollers fm, m.

Various means may be employed to enable persons standing on the floor ofa room or apartment to operate the shaft I-I. When the blindV or shutteris made of wood, the means shown in the drawing will serve the purposevery well, viz.: an endless band or cord g, running over a pulley r, atone end of the said shaft, and under a pulley s, attached to an uprightbolt t, at the lower part of the window, which bolt has a spring appliedto it, within a stationary guide boX K, in such a manner as to producesuch a tension on the cord as is necessary to produce friction enough onthe pulley 1", to turn the shaft or hold it stationary. By pushing upthis bolt, to slacken the endless band or cord g, the blind or shutteris allowed to unwind the cords or chains p, p,

and descend or close itself by its own weight. The bottom slat, when notof itself heavy enough toeffect the above result, may have weightsattached. 15, 15, represent such weights. The vmeans above describedy ofoperating the shaft H, are, however, not applicable with advantage whenthe blind or shutter is made of metal, as the weight of the blind is toogreat to be raised by cords and pulleys; but instead of thosecontrivances, I propose to employ an upright shaft geared by bevelgearing with the shaft I-I, and provided with a handle at the bottom,which should be at a convenient height to allow it to be turned by aperson standing on the floor. The cords or chains p, p, by which thelower slat is drawn up to fold or open the blind or shutter, work inrabbets, which are formed in the front or outer sides of the movableupright pieces, as shown at pf, in Fig. 5, and also in Fig. 10, which isa transverse or horizontal section of oneof the pieces E. The said cordsor chains are connected with eccentric circular plates ai, x, attachedto the tenons of the bottom slat; the said plates tting between thefronts of the cavities a, a, in the stationary uprights D, D, and thebacks of the rabbets gf, gf, of the pieces E, E, and serving as guidesto conduct the bottom slat upward without any liability of its tenonsentering the notches c, c. A side view of one of the plates m, w, isgiven in Fig. 11, on a larger scale than that in which it is shown inany other figure. The other figures in which the guide plates x, w, areshown are Figs. 1, 5, and 6. Opposite the lowest pair of notches c, c,there are small cavities sunk in the back of the rabbets pt, for theplates w, to work in when the upright pieces E are moved forward toconfine the tenons of all the slats. The tenons 0, c, of all the otherslats are made shorter than those of the bottom slat, in order to allowthe cords or chains p, p, to pass them. The bottom slat, asit is drawnup by the cords or chains p, p, passes behind the one above it, and thusthrows it forward, and throws the tenons of the latter out of thenotches c, c,- the latter one passes behind the one above it, and'actsin the same manner; andso on, all the way to the top, each slat throwingforward the one above it, and releasing its tenons. The

slats, as they rise successively, assume a the slat as nearly aspossible to an upright position, or, in other words, to close it. Theconnection of the inner edges of the slats by the chains G, G, causesall of the slats to be closed byt-he closing of the top one, when theblind or shutter is down and the tenons are in their bearings c, c, andin like manner causes all to be opened by the opening of the bottom one.To enable the slats to be opened from inside the window,

I employ, outside of the window, a curved lever 16, (shown in Figs. 1,2, 3, 4C, and 5,) whose character is that of a cam; said lever beingarranged on a fulcrum 17, and having connected with it a sliding springratchetbar 18, which works in a cavity in the sill A, and is furnishedwith a knob 19, standing above the sill, inside of the window. Bypulling the knob 19 inward, the upper or cam-like portion of the lever16, is caused to slide over the inner edge of the bottom slat, in such away as to depress the said edge, and turn the slot to a horizontal orother open position, which position is maintained against the action ofthe spring e, and cord y, by the ratchet bar 18. This operation isillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, in the latter of which the lever is shownnot in operation, and the slots closed; and in the former the lever isshown in operation, and the slats open.

J, is a hook, attached to the inner edge of cne of the slats for thepurpose of enabling the slats of the upper portion of the blind to beopened while the lower ones are closed. This is only operative while thetenons are secured in the notches c, c. By placing the point of thishook over the inner edge of the next slat above it, that slat and allabove it I are held open, while the slat to which the hook is attachedand all below it remain closed. This is illustrated in Fig. 2, by therepresentation in red outline of the upper slats in an open condition.This adjustment can only be aifected by opening the window; but all theother adjustments and movements of the blind or shutter are eEected fromthe interior without opening the window.

The suspension of the top slat of the blind by the slotted plates l, I,admits of all the movements necessary to the various condi! tions of theblind, which co-uld not be eilected by suspending the slat at a fixedpoint. The outer or upper sides of the slots 20, constitute portions ofcircles described from points in the line of the aXis of the tenons 0*,0*, of the slat, so as to admit of their working over the pins fw, w, asthe slat turns on its tenons when the blind or shutter is down; but theinner or lower side of the said slot is described so as to work againstthe pins w, w, when the blind is being drawn up, and guide the upperslat in its double movement, viz., its movement toward a horizontalposition and the upward movement which brings it close to the cap E.

This blind or shutter combines the characteristics of both a blind and ashutter, and when made of iron, is fire-proof and burglar-proof.

Vhat I claim as my invention,rand desire to secure by Letters-Patent,is:

1. The employment of movable upright pieces E, E, containing notches c,c, to receive and constitute bearings for the tenons of the blind slats,arranged to operate substantially as described within the stationarysides D, D, of the blind or shutter framing for the purpose of confiningthe tenons of the slats when the blind or shutter is down, or ofliberating the tenons to allow the blind or shutter to be drawn up orfolded.

2. The guide plates be, for conducting the tenons of the bottom slatclear of the notches c, c, during the drawing up of the blind; suchplates being attached to portions of the tenons of the said slat thateX- tend beyond the ends of the tenons of the other slats into cavitiesthat are made within the stationary side pieces of the blind, for thecords or chains p, 29, by which the blind is raised or folded, to workthrough, substantially as herein described.

3. The construction of the chains G, G, with stops L, 7L, on the links,arranged in such manner asto allow the links to fold freely inward oraway from the slats, and prevent them folding between the slats,substantially as herein described.

4l. The application of the spring e, and

cord y, to the upper slat substantially as described, in combinationwith the connection of the slats by the chains G, G, at their inneredges, for the purpose of effecting the closing of the slats when theblind or shutter is down, and keeping them closed unless held open byother means.

5. The suspension of the top slaty from fixed pins lw, w, in the cap ofthe frame of the blind or shutter by slotted plates I, I. of a` formsubstantially as herein described, which admits of all the movementsherein specified.

6. The curved lever 16, and sliding ratchet bar 18, applied asdescribed, to operate upon the lower slat, and open the blind or shutterfrom the interior of the window.`

7. The hooks J, attached to the inner edge of one of the slats andoperating in combination with the spring e, and cord y, to hold open theslats of the upper portion ofthe blind or shutter while the lowerportion remains closed, substantially as herein described.

i sYLvANUs s. CLARK.

Witnesses:

SELIM FRAs. COHEN, HENRY T. BROWN.

